Public figures are scrutinized more than
others.
Every move our president makes is noted
and he could not do what David did without it becoming known. This was
the case with David's sin. It was not only Nathan the prophet who knew
about David's affair with Bathsheba. David’s instruction to Joab must
have been noised abroad. So his sins were known by the nation at large.
His repentance, therefore, had to be public as well as private.
Let me begin by saying that not many men
would have taken it as David did. An eastern monarch might well have
considered himself above the law. Instead of repenting he could have had
Nathan killed for coming to him as he did and exposing him to his face.
Psalm 51 is in the canon of scripture as
God meant for it to be. It is an example to all Christians of
repentance. What David has to say in this psalm should be instructive
for any of us whenever we sin. It shows us the painfulness of offending
God as well as the pathway to forgiveness. In the New Testament we have
1 John 1:9:
If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
But lest that seem too
easy, let us remember that
David had pain and
remorse as part of his confession and prayer for forgiveness.
Secondly,
please notice that David did not try to bring in any excuses for his
sin. He did not mention any mitigating circumstances to justify his
sinful conduct. His prayer is an appeal solely to the loving kindness
and great compassion of the Lord.
Be
gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to
the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.Psa. 51:1 (NASB)
Thirdly,
repentance does not pass the buck or try to put the blame elsewhere.
Adam when he had sinned blamed Eve as the cause of his sin. She was the
vessel of his temptation. Satan used her.
David might have blamed Bathsheba for
having bathed herself in a place where she could be observed from the
roof of his palace. But that would have been a pretty obvious
non-excuse. But he never tried in any way to justify his sin. This is
the way repentance ought to be for you and me.
Nathan used a parable recorded for us in
2 Samuel 12: 1- 4 of two men, a rich man and a poor man. The rich man
had many herds and flocks A wayfarer came to the rich man and he was
unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd to prepare for the
wayfarer who had come to him; rather he took the poor man’s one little
ewe lamb and prepared it for the wayfarer. David was angry when he heard
it and passed judgment on the man who had done this wicked thing as
being deserving of death and that he must make restitution for the lamb
fourfold because he had no compassion. Then Nathan made his point. "YOU
ARE THE MAN!" And he went on to pronounce judgment from the Lord on
David.
Fourthly, David
justifies the Lord's judgment upon himself. He says in verse 4:
Against
You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, So
that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge. Psa.
51:4 (NASB)
David is
referring back to the judgment rendered by the prophet Nathan as
recorded in the scripture. We do know that David suffered greatly as a
result of his sin in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. He saw a sword
come into his household that cost him two sons and much misery. He lost
the child that had been conceived out of his sin with Bathsheba, and his
son Absalom lay with all of his wives publicly when he rebelled against
his father and tried to wrest the kingdom from him.
Please note that David puts the accent on sin being against God. As he
says in verse 4 Against
You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight
Some people might have a problem with
this verse because it leaves out the people who were hurt by his sin. In
reply to that I would answer that David was putting the accent on the
offence of sin as being against God himself. David gives the reason for
that which comes out of his knowledge of God as being omniscient. We can
do nothing that God does not see. His knowledge of all things is perfect
and entire. He not only sees what is going on in the world but can read
the thoughts and intents of the heart. So we are constantly subject to
his all-seeing eye.
There is a ballad that goes "God is
watching." And that is good theology. He sees all that goes on
everywhere at all times, even those things done in secret. So sin is
first and foremost against God. As David says,
I have sinned
and done what is evil in Your sight.
No one will ever get
away with sin that is done secretly and in the dark. God sees it all.
Sin comes out of the heart, as Jesus tells us,
“But the
things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those
defile the man. 19“For out of the heart come evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.
Matt. 15:18-19 (NASB)
David's sin was conceived in his heart
and God reads the hearts of men. So it was before Him that his sin had
been done. Probably the public knew of David's sin but not the intimate
details of it as God would know it, and though others were hurt by his
sin, the accent is put upon having sinned against the Lord. .
As I said, David justifies God in his
judgment upon him. This is appropriate and right. Sin is forgiven
but God renders
just judgments upon persons, especially
public persons,
when their sin is grievous and public.
I would cite the
cases of Eli and Hezekiah as other examples. God told Samuel that he was
going to judge Eli for not rebuking and removing his sons from their
priestly office for their wicked behavior. God said that he had sworn to
the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned
for by sacrifice or offering forever. So Eli said
“It is the
LORD; let Him do what seems good to Him.”
(1 Sam. 3:18) Eli concurred with the Judgment of God as being just
judgment in his case.
Then in Hezekiah's case Isaiah told him
that the days were corning when all that was in his house, and all
that his fathers
had laid up in store would be carried to Babylon, and nothing would be
left. This was because in his pride Hezekiah had showed the emissaries
from Babylon all his treasures and wealth. So Hezekiah said to Isaiah,”
The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Is
it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?” 2 Kin. 20:19 (NASB).
David did the same thing with
regard to the judgment spoken against him by Nathan the prophet.
David's prayer is that God would not
only pardon
his sin but wash
him thoroughly from his iniquity and cleanse him from his sin. In verse
7 he says
Purify me with
hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psa. 51:7 (NASB)
Hyssop was
much used by the Hebrews in their sacred sprinklings for purification.
The allusion is probably to the ceremony of sprinkling such as had been
infected with leprosy. Two birds were taken, cedar wood, scarlet, and
hyssop; one of the birds would be killed, and the priest, having dipped
the living bird, the cedar wood, scarlet, and hyssop, in the blood of
the bird that was killed, sprinkled the leper (Lev. 14). The ceremony
was not to be performed until the person was cured, and it was intended
as a declaration to the people that, God having healed him of a disease
that no human means could remove, he might with safety be restored to
society and to the privileges of which he had been deprived.
David, polluted with the crimes
of adultery and murder, regarded himself as a man affected with the
dreadful disease of leprosy, and he prays that God would sprinkle him
with hyssop as a leper would be sprinkled. In using this figurative
language he expresses his ardent desire to obtain forgiveness and
cleansing by the application of the blood of Christ, and that God would
show to the people that he had pardoned his sin, restored him to favor
and purified his soul. (Calvin Commentary, p. 294)
This is the means by which we too are cleansed. As we come to the table
of the Lord today, let us repent of any and all sin that would separate
us from the communion and fellowship of the Lord.
Back to
the Top
The paper and sermon manuscripts from
Pastor
Todd W. Allen
are made freely available for review and
distribution. We only request that proper
web page attribution be provided if
distributed for any reason. Please be
gracious to forgive typos and errors of
expression. These notes are faithful
approximations of what has been preached.
May God be glorified in the preaching of
His Word.